About

Who We Are

A SAPA Advocate is the girl sitting next to you in Biology lab, the guy who was standing near the back during your bus ride to Clairmont. They are the quiet boy who lives down the hall and the girl who is out every weekend, dancing to every song. Advocates come in all ethnicities and backgrounds. They are mathematicians, social strategists, chemistry whizzes, business school buffs, and everything in between. Anyone can be an advocate.

A SAPA Advocate is a good listener, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, and above all, a friend who is there to support a survivor.

Mission

The mission of Sexual Assault Peer Advocates is to create a supportive campus for sexual assault survivors, or a “survivor supportive campus”. A survivor supportive campus is one where peers are supportive of others when they disclose an assault, and survivors feel empowered to access the resources that they have on campus to facilitate their recovery. SAPA organizes training sessions on what to say, what not to say and how to help sexual assault survivors so that students can learn how to empower survivors. SAPA also provides direct advocacy services to survivors of sexual violence, organizes continuing education opportunities for advocates, undertakes initiatives to make Emory University an inclusive community for sexual assault survivors and organizes campus wide awareness events for SAPA’s advocacy services.

Vision

SAPA’s vision is to transform Emory University into a truly survivor supportive campus where every student has access to a SAPA advocate. Further, sexual assault survivors at Emory University should have access to all the medical, legal, emotional and physical resources that they need in order to facilitate their recovery. The University should take a strong stance against sexual violence, by taking strict punitive action against sexual assault perpetrators. It should also take into account the wishes of individuals survivors when determining sanctions for the perpetrators. As a community, we must not tolerate a single case of sexual violence at Emory University.

SAPA supports Emory University’s endeavors to provide its students with due process in all instances of alleged misconduct. We hope to make this process one that can lead to recovery for all survivors and provide the community with a reliable, expedient, and just process for determining responsibility in all cases of sexual misconduct.

Values

SAPA strives to embody the values held by the Emory University community. We embrace the diverse and multicultural student body and have immense respect for the different experiences and perspectives each student and faculty member can bring. SAPA’s core values are diversity, collaboration, equality, empowerment, and community.